going native: it’s not just about the honey bee · going native: it’s not just about the honey...
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Going Native:It’s Not Just
About the Honey Bee
Heather Holm
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
BEE NUMBERS 20,000 species world wide4000 species of bees in North America
300+ species of bees in MN
Honey bee = 1 species
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
HONEY BEES Highly social
Nest in managed hives
Perennial colony
Produce honey
NATIVE BEES Majority (90%) solitary
Nest in the ground or in cavities
Annual life cycleAdults live 2 - 6 weeks
Do not produce honey
70% Ground Nesting 30% Cavities, Stems, RocksBare soil (sparsely vegetated)
Well drained sandy soils (easier excavation)
Abandoned beetle burrows (tree snags, downed logs)Cavities in stems, twigs, or rocks
Old potter wasp or mud dauber nests
Native Bee Nesting SitesGoing Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
Nests vary from a single short tunnel to complex, branching tunnelsFemales apply resin, oil or gland secretions on cell walls (structural, waterproofing, prevent fungal/bacterial growth)
Ground-Nesting Bees
Native Bee Nesting SitesGoing Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
Cavities are dry, warm and offer protection from predators.Tunnels are divided with leaf pieces, leaf pulp, tree resin,pith or mud to create separate brood cells.
Cavity-Nesting BeesNative Bee Nesting SitesGoing Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
Habitat Degradation and FragmentationConversion of natural habitat
Intensive agricultureHousing developmentRoadsLawns
Threats to Native Bees
Outcompete native plants
Reduce plant diversity, quantity of floral resources over the growing season
Invasive Plants
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
Wild fires
Drought
Extreme cold or heat
Mismatched emergence of flowers and pollinators
Climate Change
Pesticides
Eliminate forage plants
Eliminate larval host plants forbutterflies and moths
Herbicides = Kill plants
Insecticides = Kill insects including pollinators
Systemic and contact insecticides
Threats to Native BeesGoing Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
Introduced PathogensDecline of bumble bee populations believed to be from the introduction of a pathogen (Nosema bombi) when bumble bees reared in Europe were reintroduced into North America for greenhouse crop pollination.
Family AndrenidaeMining Bees, Andrena spp.
Family ApidaeBumble Bees, Bombus spp. Small Carpenter Bees, Ceratina spp. Digger Bees, Anthophora spp. Long-Horned Bees, Melissodes spp. Cuckoo Bees, Triepeolus spp.
Family MegachilidaeMason Bees, Osmia spp. Leafcutter Bees, Megachile spp. Cuckoo Bees, Coelioxys spp. Wool Carder Bees, Anthidium spp.
Family HalictidaeSmall Sweat Bees, Lasioglossum spp. Green Sweat Bees, Agapostemon spp. Sweat Bees, Halictus spp.
Family ColletidaeYellow-Faced Bees, Hylaeus spp. Cellophane Bees, Colletes spp.
Bee Families and Common GeneraGoing Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
Nest Pithy Plant StemsPollen Collection Fine hairs on hind legs
Appearance Hour glass shaped abdomen
Metallic blue - green
Often with white patch on face
Size - Extra Small
Family ApidaeSmall Carpenter Bees, Ceratina spp.
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Hoary Vervain Verbena stricta
Active Early Spring - Fall
Family ApidaeSmall Carpenter Bees, Ceratina spp.
White Upland Aster Solidago ptarmicoides
Ohio Spiderwort Tradescantia ohiensis
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Plant Stems
Family ApidaeSmall Carpenter Bees, Ceratina spp.
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Nest GroundFlat bare ground or slopes
Nest Soil TypeLoam, Sandy Clay-Loam
Pollen Collection Long hairs on hind legs
Appearance Robust, hairy
Size - Medium
Family ApidaeDigger Bees, Anthophora spp.
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
Anthophora terminalis visiting blue lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica
2
Smooth Beardtongue Penstemon digitalis
ActiveJune - August
Family ApidaeDigger Bees, Anthophora spp.
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Nest Ground
Pollen Collection Long hairs on hind legs
Appearance Robust and hairyPale bands on abdomen
Males - long antennae
Size - Medium
Family ApidaeLong-Horned Bees, Melissodes spp.
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Common Ironwood Vernonia fasciculata
Gray Headed Coneflower Ratibida pinnata
Male
White Turtlehead Chelone glabra
Asters Symphyotrichum spp.
Female Female
July - September
ActiveFamily ApidaeLong-Horned Bees, Melissodes spp.
Male
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Leafcutter Bees, Megachile spp. Family Megachilidae
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
4Nest Cavities in wood, plant stems, rocks, garden hoses, and electrical outlets
Pollen Collection Abdomen
Appearance Dark gray/blackFemale - large mandibles Upturned abdomen
Size - Small to medium
Wrap brood cells in leaf or petal pieces
Prefer leaves that are smooth on one side (face inwards)
Different shapes are cut for different parts of the cell (oblong vs round)
Leafcutter Bees, Megachile spp. Family Megachilidae
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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MALE
FEMALE
Leafcutter Bees, Megachile spp. Family Megachilidae
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Nest No nest
Lay eggs in leafcutter bee nests
Appearance Pointed abdomen (female)Spined-tip abdomen (male)
Relatively hairless
Size - Medium
Male
Female
Cuckoo Bees, Coelioxys spp. Family Megachilidae
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Females use the spine on their abdomen to puncture a hole through the leaf pieces in a leafcutter brood cell
Cuckoo Bees, Coelioxys spp. Family Megachilidae
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Nest Ground - bare, flat ground
Nest Soil Type Sandy Loam
Pollen Collection Hind legs
Appearance Bright green head and thorax
Female: green or black and white striped abdomen Male: green and yellow striped abdomen
Family HalictidaeGreen Sweat Bees, Agapostemon spp.
Male
Female
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Ohio Spiderwort Tradescantia ohiensis
Purple Prairie Clover Dalea purpurea
Pollen collection June - July
Family HalictidaeGreen Sweat Bees, Agapostemon spp.
Smooth Oxeye Heliopsis helianthoides
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Nest Cavities in wood, stemsNest Lining Salivary gland secretions Pollen Collection CropLiquid Provisions
Appearance Black with yellow markings on face, thorax and legs
Hairless, wasp-like
Family ColletidaeYellow-Faced Bees, Hylaeus spp.
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Canada Anemone Anemone canadensis
Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium
Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata
Golden Alexanders Zizia aurea
Family ColletidaeYellow-Faced Bees, Hylaeus spp.
Active May - September
Going Native: It’s Not Just About the Honey Bee
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Cavity-Nesting Bees
Bundle together hollow stems (10” length) and hang in a site with openings facing morning sun *Replace every two years
Create and Conserve Native Bee Habitat
Cut perennial stems in late spring - leave 15” of stem stubbleCavity-Nesting Bees
It’s No Trouble To Leave Some Stubble
Create and Conserve Native Bee Habitat
Ground-Nesting BeesCreate and Conserve Native Bee Habitat
Leave Areas of Bare SoilDon’t mulch everything
Avoid Tilling Soil
Avoid Compacting SoilDon’t drive vehicles in your landscape
Leave Existing Rodent Holes
Provide a Diversity of Forage Plants
Plant in Masses (many of the same plant clustered together)
Plant a diversityof flower forms and flower colors
Use Native Plants Whenever Possible
Provide a continuoussuccession of flowers from early spring until late fall
Create and Conserve Native Bee Habitat
Provide a Diversity of Forage PlantsCreate and Conserve Native Bee Habitat
Create and Conserve Native Bee Habitat
Perennial Plantings
RainGardens
Photo: Metro Blooms